Goldenberg lights ‘Green Lantern 2′

Warner signs scribe to pen comic hero sequel

Warner Bros. is moving ahead on a second “Green Lantern,” hiring Michael Goldenberg (“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) to write the screenplay for the sequel. With the first pic’s June 17 release date just under a year away, the move to hire a writer for number two shows a serious commitment to the franchise.

Move comes a few months after the studio tapped the three “Green Lantern” screenwriters — Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim — to write a treatment for “Green Lantern 2.”

Goldenberg performed a rewrite on the script for “Green Lantern,” which just wrapped shooting in Louisiana with Donald De Line producing and Martin Campbell directing. Ryan Reynolds stars as DC Comics superhero who’s part of the Green Lantern Corps.

“Green Lantern 2″ is one of the first DC Comics properties — which include Batman, Superman and the Flash — to move forward at Warner since the studio took control of DC Comics a year ago and rebranded it DC Entertainment, tapping Warner Bros. vet Diane Nelson as president. It brought in a new management team in February.

Warner Bros. announced in late April that “Batman 3″ would open on July 20, 2012. David Goyer is working with Christopher Nolan’s brother, Jonathan Nolan, on a script for the next Batman installment, based on an idea from Christopher Nolan.

Goldenberg previously adapted “Where the Wild Things Are” and also wrote “Peter Pan” and “Contact.”